A teacher works one-on-one with a student at Fusion Academy.Courtesy photo

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- American Education Group, a Grand Rapids-based company that operates a chain of customized private schools, has a new moniker: Fusion Education Group.

The rebranding is part of a restructuring that will focus on the company's successful Fusion Academy & Learning Center learning model, said Peter Ruppert, Fusion Education Group’s chief executive and founder.

Since acquiring Fusion Academy San Diego in December 2008, the Grand Rapids-based for-profit education provider opened 13 additional campuses in California and New York. Fusion's 15th campus is opening this month in White Plains, NY, and six more locations are set to open in the next school year.

Ruppert says each Fusion Academy offers a completely personalized learning experience for every student with one teacher-one student classes. Flexible hours - from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. - lets full- and part-time students in grades 6-12 tailor their class time around their schedules.

Each school has a capacity of about 70 students during the day, and up to another 100 part-time students who take classes for credit or are tutored.

The annual cost of a Fusion education is between $30,000 - $45,000, surpassing most most college tuitions. There's no financial aid, although there have been a few exceptions where districts have picked up the tab, Ruppert said.

“It’s targeted for students who are falling through the cracks,” Ruppert said. “It allows for complete customization of academics.”

The school draws not only students who struggle in traditional educational settings but young athletes, actors, musicians and even entrepreneurs who need flexible schedules.

Ruppert says the company purchased Fusion Academy San Diego in 2008 because he knew there would be a demand for the school’s innovative learning model across the country.

Peter RuppertCourtesy photo

“To ensure Fusion’s continued growth, we made the decision to become strategically focused on this uniquely attractive educational approach with outstanding growth prospects,” Ruppert said.

As part of the Fusion’s restructuring, the company recently sold three of its existing schools in order to focus more attention on Fusion Academy model.

“It’s a major change in the company and sets us up for the future,” said Ruppert, who declined to share the company’s revenues. In 2010, Ruppert told MLive, he expected to see the company turn its first profit by 2012.

In January, Todd Avis, a former AEG vice president of education, bought two of the k-8 schools - Florida-based Tampa Day School and the Marietta, Ga-based Shriner Academy - which are now operated under his new Grand Rapids-based company, Leelanau Education Group.

Little Sprouts - which has 16 locations in the Boston area - was sold to Madison Equity in October.

Barnstable Academy, a specialized private school in Northern New Jersey with a learning model similar to Fusion Academy, will continue to be operated by the company.

Fusion expects to double the number of campuses in the next three years. In the short-term, Fusion plans to add more campuses in California and in the New York tri-state area.

A teacher works one-on-one with a student at a Fusion Academy school.Courtesy photo

“To that end, we are well on our way with the planned opening of six additional campuses in those areas over the next school year,” said Ruppert. “Over the long-term, however, we will introduce the Fusion Academy model in select markets across the country. Our entire organization is committed to the goal of expanding Fusion’s educational impact to students across the United States.”

The company, funded through two private equity groups, has a workforce of nearly 400 employees with about 20 working in Fusion’s corporate office in downtown Grand Rapids on the 12th floor of 77 Monroe Center above the Louis Benton Steakhouse.

Although the company’s schools currently are far from Michigan, Ruppert has no plans to relocate the headquarters.

“When I raised the money initially, we didn’t know where the schools would be,” said Ruppert. “It’s a little harder to manage from here but I wanted to continue to work with the team. We have just resigned ourselves to getting on planes frequently to go to the business. At some point, we plan to be in the Midwest including Michigan.”

Ruppert got his start in the private school business in Michigan. He headed the for-profit Grand Rapids-based National Heritage Academies for eight years until 2005. Under his leadership, NHA grew from four to 51 charter schools in five states.